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Pleasant Valley forfeits state girls track title

July 26th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A girls track and field team in Iowa has lost its state title after a runner was declared ineligible because she competed against college athletes at invitational meets. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Board of Directors voted Friday to take away the Class 4A title the Pleasant Valley Spartans won in May. A runner for Pleasant Valley, near the Quad Cities, competed against college track athletes at three out-of-state meets, making her ineligible to compete in the state championship.

Superintendent Jim Spelhaug says it’s unfair for the board to strip the school of the title when coaches and administrators didn’t know what the runner had done until June. Urbandale will be declared state champions instead. Pleasant Valley must also return the state championship trophy, its first in 23 years